The shocking result of the second Test between Australia and India, in which Australia lost eight wickets for only 80 runs, left the Australians speechless.
In the opening session of the second Test match between Australia and India on Sunday, the tourists experienced a disastrous collapse, losing eight wickets for only 80 runs. The Australian batting lineup nearly gave their wickets to Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, who were in outstanding form. Because of this, the home team went on to win the match easily by six wickets. Video of a serious conversation between Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith in the Australian dressing room about the team’s worrying loss of wickets quickly went popular on social media.
India won the second Test by six wickets, retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, thanks in large part to Ravindra Jadeja’s career-best seven for 42, which completely exposed an unprepared and confused Australian batting lineup.
The Australian batsmen were bowled out for 113 in 31.1 overs in the morning session due to the combined efforts of Jadeja (10 wickets), who had a fantastic match, and Ravichandran Ashwin (3 for 59). It took nine wickets and 52 runs to end the innings.
The Indian batting lineup, led by KL Rahul (1), played spin effectively and chased down the mark of 115 in just 26.
On the occasion of his 100th Test match, Cheteshwar Pujara had reason to celebrate: he remained unbeaten on 31 and, appropriately, hit the winning boundary. With a 2-0 lead in the four-game series, India has effectively secured their spot in the World Test Championship final, which will be played in England in June.
It was India’s 100th victory in all-formats matches versus Australia. Starting on February 27, the third Test will be held in Indore.
At 61 for 1, Jadeja’s arm balls became a deadly weapon as many as five Australian batters were dismissed trying to play sweep shots of deliveries that maintained low on a typical third-day Ferozshah Kotla track.
In the end, it wasn’t surface that did in Australia, but rather their uncertainty going into the match.
On numerous occasions, batsmen like Steve Smith, Matt Renshaw, Alex Carry, Pat Cummins, and Matt Kuhnemann played the ugly slog sweep or attempted a reverse sweep that didn’t exist in response to deliveries that were bowled on the middle stump or leg stump line.
When the deliveries kept getting lower, they were either bowled or called out for leg before.
Eight Australian batters failed to reach double figures, and the only ones who did were the overnight combination of Travis Head (45) and Marnus Labschagne (35), who had briefly counterattacked the previous night with some success. Ashwin played the supporting act perfectly.
But in the first session, everything changed when Ashwin bowled Head an off-break and Kona Bharat behind the stumps plucked up the edge.
A sweep or reverse sweep off a straight one or slider is a fatal error if the ball doesn’t have enough bounce. Fair decision on the ball that caught Steve Smith square in the front.
While playing on tracks where the ball starts low, it’s best to keep your front foot forward and swing your bat straight. The odds of a stupid point or short leg being in play are diminished when a player stretches the front foot forward.
Instead, spinners will likely keep it in line of stumps, waiting for either a bowled or leg before the decision, if you are on the backfoot or attempting to play across-the-line shots like sweep and reverse.
When faced with a delivery that called for a large stride to be taken in response, Labuschagne, who had been looking assured up until that point, slid backward. Hence, the pitcher held the ball at a low level and castled the hitter.
Matt Renshaw has been a “walking wicket” for the home team in India because he lacks the skill and determination to play through the pain.
Renshaw, in for the injured David Warner, attempted a sweep off Ashwin, but the ball kept incredibly low and the stroke was off.
The best batter in the first innings, Peter Handscomb (0), was the recipient of the lone classic left-arm orthodox delivery. For a change, Jadeja tossed it high and dragged him forward until it veered away just enough to give Virat Kohli the outside edge.
In gifting Jadeja his seventh wicket, Matt Kuhnemann looked as stupid as possible, while Pat Cummins’ terrible slog sweep shot was motivated more by fury and frustration than by strategy.
Spinner play on a low bounce track was demonstrated by Rohit. India’s Rohit Sharma (31 off 20 balls) led the way against the Australian spinners at the beginning of the chase before he was run out owing to a misunderstanding.
When Rohit saw the ball being given air, he would take a large stride forward and lift it in the arc between the sight screen and the cow corner, in contrast to Labuschagne’s preference to stay on the backfoot even against flighted deliveries.
Rohit learned a lot about handling spinners during his brief spell.
